The <em>Gospel Herald</em> merged with <em>[[Mennonite, The (Periodical, 1885-1998)|The Mennonite]]</em> of the [[General Conference Mennonite Church (GCM)|General Conference Mennonite Church]] to form a new periodical called <em>The Mennonite</em>. This was an early step in the restructuring of the two denominations into Mennonite Church USA and [[Mennonite Church Canada|Mennonite Church Canada]]. J. Lorne Peachey continued as the editor of the new publication. The last issue of <em>Gospel Herald</em> was 27 January 1998.

The <em>Gospel Herald</em> merged with <em>[[Mennonite, The (Periodical, 1885-1998)|The Mennonite]]</em> of the [[General Conference Mennonite Church (GCM)|General Conference Mennonite Church]] to form a new periodical called <em>The Mennonite</em>. This was an early step in the restructuring of the two denominations into Mennonite Church USA and [[Mennonite Church Canada|Mennonite Church Canada]]. J. Lorne Peachey continued as the editor of the new publication. The last issue of <em>Gospel Herald</em> was 27 January 1998.

Latest revision as of 08:10, 10 June 2014

First issue of the Gospel Herald

The Gospel Herald, the official organ of the Mennonite Church (MC) began publication 4 April 1908, as a merger of the Gospel Witness (Scottdale) and the Herald of Truth (Elkhart). It was published weekly (50 issues yearly beginning in 1959), 16 pages until 1947 and then 24 pages (occasionally 32), 11.75 x 9 inches, at Scottdale, Pennsylvania by the Mennonite Publishing House for the Mennonite Publication Board. The circulation in 1954 was approximately 19,000. It contained articles. news, and promotional matter of special interest to the Mennonite Church. There were editorials, pages devoted to missions, schools, church music, peace, church history, and Christian education, a family circle page, a monthly page for shut-ins, a devotional column, a guide to the Sunday-school lesson, book reviews, comments on the world religious scene, poems, prayers and prayer requests. It printed official reports of conferences and boards. Its purpose was to inform, instruct, and inspire in Christian life and work. This periodical had only five editors: Daniel Kauffman (1908-December 1943), Paul Erb (January 1944-June 1962), John Drescher (July 1962-September 1973), Daniel Hertzler (October 1973-October 1990), and J. Lorne Peachey (November 1990-January 1998).

From April 1916 to December 1947 the Herald included a monthly supplement with a mission focus, at first 8 pages, then 16. It was titled Missions (6 April 1916-5 March 1925), Gospel Herald Mission Supplement (2 April 1925-1 February 1941), and Christian Missions (7 March 1941-December 1947). It was edited by J. S. Hartzler (April 1916-September 1920), [Unidentified] (October 1920-September 1932), J. A. Ressler (October 1932-November 1936), "Regular editors of the Gospel Herald" (December 1936-May 1938), and John R. Mumaw (June 1938-December 1947).

A Christian Doctrine Supplement of 16 pages appeared from October 1925 to the end of 1947, first quarterly, then bimonthly, edited until 1943 by Daniel Kauffman, then by Paul Erb. The Peace Problems Committee supplied a monthly Peace Page for many years, first edited by Edward Yoder, Ford Berg, and after 1955 by Paul Peachey.

The Gospel Herald merged with The Mennonite of the General Conference Mennonite Church to form a new periodical called The Mennonite. This was an early step in the restructuring of the two denominations into Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada. J. Lorne Peachey continued as the editor of the new publication. The last issue of Gospel Herald was 27 January 1998.